DT Talk Writers Elite draft 2016

On Friday 4 March, sixteen of our writers jumped on their computers/laptops/tablets/phones to take part in our annual draft. We decided on the 3-4-1-3-(4) structure due to having 16 teams. 240 players were selected (some not by choice, hey Roy and Crutt) in a pretty intense night of picks.

The first round played out way differently than we anticipated. Stefan Martin at #1, leaving Rocky to slip to a happy Jeppa. Roy kept his love for Goldy going taking him at 3 while St Kilda supporting Rummerz was happy to have his boy Jack Steven at 4. Surprisingly another three rucks went in the first round with Shags grabbing Jacobs, Anthony Nic Nat and Tristan Blicavs. I was stoked with Pendles at 8 but the biggest surprise would have been Ablett sliding to 16. I don’t think that will happen in many any other drafts!

Click through the draft as it happened in the table below and take in what our writers said about their teams, along with what their line ups look like. Discuss our draft in the comments and feel free to chat about your own… and if you are keen to set up your own AFL Fantasy Elite drafts, post your codes and details.

DOWNLOAD: Official AFL Fantasy Elite Draft Kit 2016.

PICK	TEAM	PLAYER	CLUB	POSITION
1	Tbetta Than You	Stefan Martin	BL	RUC
2	Jeppa's Juniors	Tom Rockliff	BL	MID
3	destROY	Todd Goldstein	NM	RUC
4	HIRDOFCHEATS	Jack Steven	STK	MID
5	Ballers XVIII	Dustin Martin	RICH	FWD/MID
6	The Shagbaggers	Sam Jacobs	ADE	RUC
7	Calvinator	Dan Hannebery	SYD	MID
8	Warne Dawgs	Scott Pendlebury	COLL	MID
9	Griff's Fury	Michael Barlow	FRE	FWD/MID
10	Rockstars	Nic Naitanui	WC	RUC
11	Dunny's Destroyers	Leigh Montagna	STK	FWD/MID
12	The Running Man	Jordan Lewis	HAW	MID
13	Dove Love	Nat Fyfe	FRE	MID
14	Suts	Patrick Dangerfield	GEE	MID
15	Statismathgicians	Mark Blicavs	GEE	RUC/MID
16	Lampshade's Lads	Gary Ablett	GC	MID
17	Lampshade's Lads	Matthew Boyd	WB	DEF
18	Statismathgicians	Josh P. Kennedy	SYD	MID
19	Suts	Shane Mumford	GWS	RUC
20	Dove Love	Tom Mitchell	SYD	MID
21	The Running Man	Heath Shaw	GWS	DEF
22	Dunny's Destroyers	Matt Priddis	WC	MID
23	Rockstars	Luke Hodge	HAW	MID
24	Griff's Fury	Jarrad McVeigh	SYD	DEF/MID
25	Warne Dawgs	Dane Swan	COLL	MID
26	Calvinator	Lachie Neale	FRE	MID
27	The Shagbaggers	Steele Sidebottom	COLL	MID
28	Ballers XVIII	Jimmy Bartel	GEE	DEF/MID
29	HIRDOFCHEATS	Dayne Beams	BL	MID
30	destROY	Toby Greene	GWS	FWD/MID
31	Jeppa's Juniors	Luke Dahlhaus	WB	FWD/MID
32	Tbetta Than You	Brett Deledio	RICH	FWD
33	Tbetta Than You	Bachar Houli	RICH	DEF
34	Jeppa's Juniors	Jack Macrae	WB	MID
35	destROY	Taylor Adams	COLL	MID
36	HIRDOFCHEATS	Max Gawn	MELB	RUC
37	Ballers XVIII	Rory Laird	ADE	DEF
38	The Shagbaggers	David Armitage	STK	MID
39	Calvinator	Harley Bennell	FRE	FWD/MID
40	Warne Dawgs	Nick Riewoldt	STK	FWD
41	Griff's Fury	Andrew Gaff	WC	MID
42	Rockstars	Mitch Robinson	BL	FWD/MID
43	Dunny's Destroyers	Kade Kolodjashnij	GC	DEF
44	The Running Man	Zach Merrett	ESS	FWD/MID
45	Dove Love	Brodie Grundy	COLL	RUC
46	Suts	Adam Treloar	COLL	MID
47	Statismathgicians	Brandon Ellis	RICH	MID
48	Lampshade's Lads	Lance Franklin	SYD	FWD
49	Lampshade's Lads	Luke Parker	SYD	MID
50	Statismathgicians	Dayne Zorko	BL	FWD/MID
51	Suts	Aaron Hall	GC	FWD/MID
52	Dove Love	Chad Wingard	PA	FWD
53	The Running Man	Joel Selwood	GEE	MID
54	Dunny's Destroyers	David Mundy	FRE	MID
55	Rockstars	Ollie Wines	PA	MID
56	Griff's Fury	Matthew Kreuzer	CARL	RUC
57	Warne Dawgs	Brad Ebert	PA	MID
58	Calvinator	Sam Mitchell	HAW	MID
59	The Shagbaggers	Brendon Goddard	ESS	MID
60	Ballers XVIII	Kade Simpson	CARL	DEF
61	HIRDOFCHEATS	Steve Johnson	GWS	FWD
62	destROY	Rory Sloane	ADE	MID
63	Jeppa's Juniors	Ivan Maric	RICH	RUC
64	Tbetta Than You	Devon Smith	GWS	FWD
65	Tbetta Than You	Callan Ward	GWS	MID
66	Jeppa's Juniors	Corey Enright	GEE	DEF
67	destROY	Dion Prestia	GC	MID
68	HIRDOFCHEATS	Jack Billings	STK	FWD
69	Ballers XVIII	Chris Masten	WC	MID
70	The Shagbaggers	Grant Birchall	HAW	DEF
71	Calvinator	Mark LeCras	WC	FWD
72	Warne Dawgs	Taylor Duryea	HAW	DEF
73	Griff's Fury	Dylan Shiel	GWS	MID
74	Rockstars	Liam Picken	WB	MID
75	Dunny's Destroyers	Jack Gunston	HAW	FWD
76	The Running Man	Sam Docherty	CARL	DEF
77	Dove Love	Steven Motlop	GEE	FWD/MID
78	Suts	Robbie Gray	PA	MID
79	Statismathgicians	Tom Lynch	ADE	FWD
80	Lampshade's Lads	Elliot Yeo	WC	DEF/MID
81	Lampshade's Lads	Bryce Gibbs	CARL	MID
82	Statismathgicians	Kieren Jack	SYD	MID
83	Suts	Liam Shiels	HAW	MID
84	Dove Love	Matt Rosa	GC	DEF/MID
85	The Running Man	Kurt Tippett	SYD	RUC/FWD
86	Dunny's Destroyers	Brodie Smith	ADE	DEF/MID
87	Rockstars	Tom Liberatore	WB	MID
88	Griff's Fury	Hamish Hartlett	PA	MID
89	Warne Dawgs	Jake Stringer	WB	FWD
90	Calvinator	Matthew Lobbe	PA	RUC
91	The Shagbaggers	Trent Cotchin	RICH	MID
92	Ballers XVIII	Aaron Sandilands	FRE	RUC
93	HIRDOFCHEATS	Jamie Macillan	NM	DEF
94	destROY	Marc Murphy	CARL	MID
95	Jeppa's Juniors	Tom Bell	BL	FWD
96	Tbetta Than You	Matt Suckling	WB	DEF/FWD
97	Tbetta Than You	Travis Boak	PA	MID
98	Jeppa's Juniors	Isaac Smith	HAW	MID
99	destROY	Sam Gray	PA	FWD/MID
100	HIRDOFCHEATS	Andrew Mackie	GEE	DEF
101	Ballers XVIII	Justin Westhoff	PA	FWD
102	The Shagbaggers	Josh Gibson	HAW	DEF
103	Calvinator	Marcus Bontempelli	WB	MID
104	Warne Dawgs	Pearce Hanley	BL	MID
105	Griff's Fury	Jordan De Goey	COLL	FWD/MID
106	Rockstars	Daniel Rich	BL	DEF/MID
107	Dunny's Destroyers	Tom Nicholls	GC	RUC
108	The Running Man	Patrick Cripps	CARL	MID
109	Dove Love	Shaun Higgins	NM	FWD
110	Suts	Sam Gilbert	STK	DEF/MID
111	Statismathgicians	Dylan Roberton	DTK	DEF
112	Lampshade's Lads	Ben McEvoy	HAW	RUC
113	Lampshade's Lads	Allen Christensen	BL	FWD
114	Statismathgicians	Tom McDonald	MELB	DEF
115	Suts	Jarryd Roughead	HAW	FWD
116	Dove Love	Luke Shuey	WC	MID
117	The Running Man	Callum Sinclair	SYD	RUC/FWD
118	Dunny's Destroyers	Scott Thompson	ADE	MID
119	Rockstars	Jesse Lonergan	GC	DEF/MID
120	Griff's Fury	Jack Grimes	MELB	DEF
121	Warne Dawgs	Shaun Burgoyne	HAW	DEF
122	Calvinator	Tom Langdon	COLL	DEF
123	The Shagbaggers	Touk Miller	GC	FWD/MID
124	Ballers XVIII	Josh Caddy	GEE	MID
125	HIRDOFCHEATS	Ryan Griffen	GWS	MID
126	destROY	Josh J. Kennedy	WC	FWD
127	Jeppa's Juniors	Robert Murphy	WB	DEF
128	Tbetta Than You	Tommy Sherridan	FRE	DEF
129	Tbetta Than You	Brad Crouch	ADE	MID
130	Jeppa's Juniors	Jack Redden	WC	MID
131	destROY	Ethan Hughes	FRE	DEF
132	HIRDOFCHEATS	David Zaharakis	ESS	MID
133	Ballers XVIII	Mitch Wallis	WB	MID
134	The Shagbaggers	Mark Baguley	ESS	DEF
135	Calvinator	Zac Williams	GWS	DEF
136	Warne Dawgs	Marco Paparone	BL	DEF
137	Griff's Fury	Jamie Cripps	WC	FWD
138	Rockstars	Brendan Whitecross	HAW	DEF/FWD
139	Dunny's Destroyers	Matthew Broadbent	PA	DEF
140	The Running Man	Lewis Taylor	BL	FWD/MID
141	Dove Love	Matthew Jaensch	ADE	DEF
142	Suts	Nathan Vardy	GEE	RUC/FWD
143	Statismathgicians	Jarrod Harbrow	GC	DEF/MID
144	Lampshade's Lads	Levi Greenwood	COLL	MID
145	Lampshade's Lads	Brent Harvey	NM	FWD
146	Statismathgicians	Bernie Vince	MELB	MID
147	Suts	Mark Hutchings	WC	FWD/MID
148	Dove Love	James Aish	COLL	DEF/MID
149	The Running Man	Marley Williams	COLL	DEF
150	Dunny's Destroyers	Stephen Coniglio	GWS	MID
151	Rockstars	Trent McKenzie	GC	DEF
152	Griff's Fury	Cameron Sutcliffe	FRE	DEF
153	Warne Dawgs	Jamie Elliott	COLL	FWD
154	Calvinator	Ryan Harwood	BL	DEF
155	The Shagbaggers	Aaron vandenBerg	MELB	FWD/MID
156	Ballers XVIII	Lachie Hunter	WB	MID
157	HIRDOFCHEATS	Craig Bird	ESS	FWD/MID
158	destROY	Stephen Hill	FRE	MID
159	Jeppa's Juniors	Ben McGlynn	SYD	FWD
160	Tbetta Than You	Taylor Walker	ADE	FWD
161	Tbetta Than You	Mitch Duncan	GEE	MID
162	Jeppa's Juniors	Michael Johnson	FRE	DEF
163	destROY	Matt Crouch	ADE	MID
164	HIRDOFCHEATS	Jason Johannisen	WB	DEF
165	Ballers XVIII	Jack Viney	MELB	MID
166	The Shagbaggers	Shane Edwards	RICH	FWD/MID
167	Calvinator	Mitch Grigg	ADE	FWD/MID
168	Warne Dawgs	Zac Smith	GEE	RUC
169	Griff's Fury	Jack Ziebell	NM	MID
170	Rockstars	Jonathan Simpkin	ESS	FWD/MID
171	Dunny's Destroyers	Jack Riewoldt	RICH	FWD
172	The Running Man	Jack Newnes	STK	MID
173	Dove Love	Andrew Swallow	NM	MID
174	Suts	Brad Sheppard	WC	DEF
175	Statismathgicians	Dale Thomas	CARL	FWD/MID
176	Lampshade's Lads	Paul Seedsman	ADE	DEF/MID
177	Lampshade's Lads	Michael Rischitelli	GC	MID
178	Statismathgicians	Rhys Stanley	GEE	RUC/FWD
179	Suts	Michael Walters	FRE	FWD
180	Dove Love	Clancee Pearce	FRE	DEF/MID
181	The Running Man	Jasper Pittard	PA	DEF
182	Dunny's Destroyers	Sam Kerridge	CARL	FWD/MID
183	Rockstars	Dom Sheed	WC	FWD/MID
184	Griff's Fury	Koby Stevens	WB	MID
185	Warne Dawgs	Josh Kelly	GWS	MID
186	Calvinator	Anthony Miles	RICH	MID
187	The Shagbaggers	Billy Longer	STK	RUC
188	Ballers XVIII	Mathew Stokes	ESS	FWD/MID
189	HIRDOFCHEATS	Jack Crisp	COLL	MID
190	destROY	Nathan Jones	MELB	MID
191	Jeppa's Juniors	Dom Tyson	MELB	MID
192	Tbetta Than You	Nick Malceski	GC	DEF
193	Tbetta Than You	Lachie Whitfield	GWS	MID
194	Jeppa's Juniors	Tom Campbell	WB	RUC/FWD
195	destROY	Shaun Grigg	RICH	MID
196	HIRDOFCHEATS	Eddie Betts	ADE	FWD
197	Ballers XVIII	Will Minson	WB	RUC
198	The Shagbaggers	Nick Graham	CARL	MID
199	Calvinator	Cyril Rioli	HAW	FWD
200	Warne Dawgs	James Kelly	ESS	MID
201	Griff's Fury	Shaun McKernan	ESS	RUC/FWD
202	Rockstars	Daniel Wells	NM	FWD/MID
203	Dunny's Destroyers	Mitch Brown	ESS	DEF/FWD
204	The Running Man	Jack Darling	WC	FWD
205	Dove Love	Ben Cunnington	NM	MID
206	Suts	Ricky Henderson	ADE	DEF/MID
207	Statismathgicians	Travis Varcoe	COLL	DEF/FWD
208	Lampshade's Lads	Tom J Lynch	GC	FWD
209	Lampshade's Lads	Harry Taylor	GEE	DEF
210	Statismathgicians	Matthew Leuenberger	ESS	RUC/FWD
211	Suts	Adam Tomlinson	GWS	DEF/FWD
212	Dove Love	Chris Mayne	FRE	FWD
213	The Running Man	Easton Wood	WB	DEF
214	Dunny's Destroyers	Jared Polec	PA	MID
215	Rockstars	Christian Petracca	MELB	FWD/MID
216	Griff's Fury	Isaac Heeney	SYD	FWD
217	Warne Dawgs	Jack Steele	GWS	FWD/MID
218	Calvinator	Luke Breust	HAW	FWD
219	The Shagbaggers	Angus Brayshaw	MELB	FWD/MID
220	Ballers XVIII	Jack Martin	GC	FWD
221	HIRDOFCHEATS	Shane Biggs	WB	DEF
222	destROY	Chris Yarran	RICH	DEF
223	Jeppa's Juniors	Richard Douglas	ADE	MID
224	Tbetta Than You	Alex Fasolo	COLL	FWD
225	Tbetta Than You	Jonathon Ceglar	HAW	RUC
226	Jeppa's Juniors	Andrew Walker	CARL	DEF/FWD
227	destROY	Dane Rampe	SYD	DEF
228	HIRDOFCHEATS	Scott Selwood	GEE	MID
229	Ballers XVIII	Nick Dal Santo	NM	MID
230	The Shagbaggers	Martin Gleeson	ESS	DEF
231	Calvinator	Tanner Smith	FRE	DEF
232	Warne Dawgs	Orazio Fantasia	ESS	DEF
233	Griff's Fury	Tomas Bugg	MELB	DEF
234	Rockstars	Scott Lycett	WC	RUC/FWD
235	Dunny's Destroyers	Reece Conca	RICH	FWD/MID
236	The Running Man	Cameron Guthrie	GEE	MID
237	Dove Love	Lee Spurr	FRE	DEF
238	Suts	Ryan Bastinac	BL	MID
239	Statismathgicians	Tom Scully	GWS	MID
240	Lampshade's Lads	Jarrod Witts	COLL	RUC/FWD

Here’s some quick thoughts from our sixteen coaches and their teams.

1. Tbetta Than You – Coach: Tbetta

I normally walk out of an Elite draft hating my side, but I’m very happy with the squad I pulled together this year. I went with a standard Value-Based Drafting strategy and right away I knew that with only 4 starting MIDs and 16 teams, the Ruck line would be crucial. Ultimately, that led me towards Stef Martin over Tom Rockliff with the first pick overall and I think that call was justified given that 5 ruckmen were taken inside the first round alone. I managed to secure a couple of players I targeted (Sheridan and Duncan), while locking away Suckling (B/F) in the middle rounds was a clever flex pick that helped set up a deep and malleable squad.

2. Jeppa’s Juniors – Coach: Jeppa

My strategy with any draft is to select the best player available in the first few rounds then fill the holes. After Tbetta surprisingly opted for Stefan at Pick 1, picking Rocky was automatic. It was a long wait till my Round 2 selection (Pick 31) but thankfully, premium forward Luke Dahlhaus was still available. Soon after, Jack Macrae was there for the taking and in my opinion, the young Bulldog will challenge the Top 8 Fantasy mids this season. I’m pretty happy at this point!

With all the gun ruckmen gone early, I panicked and took Maric at 63. In hindsight, I should have gone with young gun Devon Smith who was still available and picked a low key ruck like Nicholls or McEvoy at around the 100 mark. Enright at 66 was my first defender selection and now it was time to get creative. Tom Bell and Isaac Smith were my next two picks and both can go big when they’re on. My favourite pick of the night was new Eagle Jack Redden at 130. Redden averaged 106 back in 2014 and when he gets going in the second half of the season, look out!

If I had my time again I’d be far more organised but looking at the other coaches, I think I faired pretty dam well.

3. destROY – Coach: Roy

I came into this draft will no real strategy, other than trying something a bit new by drinking more Boags than I usually would and just using the ‘vibe’ of the draft to influence my selections. This laid back strategy was working a treat until round nine, pick 131 when an ill timed top up, combined with the slowest NBN in history ignored my last second Mitch Wallis and I was introduced to Ethan Whos? Oh, I mean Hughes. Lesson: Spend some time completing your pre draft order to avoid this. Even with this disaster, my team is very good across three lines with Goldy leading the way, supported by a midfield that will all average triple figures. Next draft I will find a happy medium, drink before, but not during #winning.

4. HIRDOFCHEATS – Coach: Rumballz

I started from the 4 slot. For my first two picks I selected Jack Steven and Dayne Beams. Steven is a bit of a YOLO pick as I’m banking on him keeping or improving on last year’s average and Beama is a gun when fully fit. Rucks tended to disappear quickly so I jumped on big Gawny next. Watching the GWS/Syd game, old mate Stevie J caught my eye, so I chose him, and then his incarnate, Jack Billings, with my next two picks. I felt I had better grab some defenders, so next up was North’s Jamie Macmillan, who can pump out some decent scores when healthy, and then a safe bet in Andrew Mackie. I completed my mids by selecting Ryan Griffen and David Zaharakis who I both believe can average above 90 this year. My last forward was Bird is the word and my last defender was Jason Johannisen who I’m hoping gets some midfield minutes as a defender. To finish off, my bench consists of Jack Crisp, Eddie Betts, Shane Biggs and Scott Selwood. An eclectic bunch.

5. Ballers XVIII – Coach: Matt

I had a plan heading into the draft, which was thrown out the window when Goldstein and Martin were gone by pick 3. I was still happy to get Dusty Martin at pick 5. Next I made sure I had a solid defence by taking 3 quality defenders with my next 3 picks. No headaches needed there.

You can’t plan for an internet meltdown, thus Chris Masten in the 5th round. Moving on… I’m happy with Sandi in the ruck. There’s a lot of depth in midfield, so I was patient. This will make or break my team. I took Caddy, Wallis, Hunter and Viney as my 8th, 9th ,10th and 11th picks respectively. All of them are capable of averaging close to 100, but I’ll need at least three to make that leap if I’m to have a successful season.

Westhoff and Stokes round out a solid forward line. With my final pick I gambled on a position change, selecting Dal Santo in the hope he plays off half back. It could have been better, but there’s still plenty of potential!

6. The Shagbaggers – Coach: Shags

This was my first EVER draft league so I felt somewhat intimidated by the experienced players I was up against. Armed with my hastily drawn up spreadsheet and a copy of AFL Fantasy Elite Draft kit by the traders I got going.

I was hoping to grab one of the better rucks with my first pick 6 (unless Rocky was there, as if), unfortunately couldn’t get S.Martin or Goldi so I set myself for Jacobs hoping he would have a year like 2014.

I chased after all mids for next three trades grabbing Sidebottom, Armitage, Goddard, quickly grabbed Birchall as there was a defender rush and then grabbed Cotchin. Filled the remainder of my defense with Gibson, Baguley, and have the risky strategy of forward smokeys in Touk Miller, Vanderberg and Shaun Edwards. I felt that I JUST missed out on so many players, but that’s the nature of the beast.

7. Calvinator – Coach: Calvin

At Team Calvinator we always say “defenders are pretender” and this year, this is so true. They are such an ‘unknown’ so therefore they we’re the last thing on my mind when drafting. I targeted midfield guns and was pumped with my main three in Hannebery, Neale and Sam Mitchell. Harley Bennell and LeCras are both set for another huge year and securing the new No. 1 ruckman at Port in Lobbe, was a super grab late. Clearly the best team drafted on the night and set for a huge year.

8. Warne Dawgs – Coach: Warnie

I couldn’t believe my luck when Pendles slid to 8. I was surprised with Rummerz taking Steven, Shags grabbing Jacobs… and even Calvin going with Hanners (no L) before the super-consistent Collingwood Captain. I thought someone would have taken Ablett ahead of him, although – now that this has happening, I now apparently have Pendles ahead of the Little Master. I grabbed Swanny with my second round pick ready to make him my F1 from round six. Taylor Duryea was my first defender picked, my fifth selection and the 72nd overall. He was the 11th defender taken, so happy with him in that range although, judging by how our draft unfolded, I could have held on him. NAB hype pick of Stringer was out of the norm for me, but happy… especially with grabbing Pearce Hanley as my last MID. He is half a chance to pick up DPP with the returning midfielders at the Lions. I’m going to have to play the waiver wire (or get some big trades happening) to get the solid midfielders that I need if those blokes gain DPP. One other pick I was happy with was Zac Smith as my last onfield selection to be my ruckman. He should be solid enough for my R1 if he is #1 at the Cats.

9. Griff’s Fury – Coach: Griff

Youth and Versatility; that was my draft strategy. Being in the middle of the pack I had to pick the best available with each selection, so I focused on getting solid scorers in the forward and back lines as quickly as possible.

With Barlow and McVeigh leading these lines, I could afford to go speculative on guys with huge breakout potential in De Goey and Sutcliffe. These lines don’t have a huge the scoring gap between speculative guys and standard guys, so I won’t really lose out if they are mediocre.
I loaded up in the midfield with two endurance outside runners who will keep going long after others fail; Gaff and Shiel. Paired with Hartlett and Ziebel, my midfield should be consistently strong.

My backline looks a tad weak, but with Koby Stevens on my bench, I’m hoping he gets DPP by round six to really strengthen the squad.

10. Rockstars – Coach: Anthony

I’ll be honest, I made a joke on twitter earlier about my draft strategy being ‘panic when it’s my turn and pick someone!’ but I didn’t realise how true that would become! I was still in traffic during the first round and didn’t realise my phone was lagging during the picks, before I knew it ‘Your Pick’ and 25 secs were flashing on the screen and I was freaking out! So yeah, I grabbed Nic Nat since a couple of rucks had already gone. Do I regret this? Perhaps… Did it get any better from there onward? I wish! Eventually I got home and can say, drafting on the computer is definitely the way to go!

I didn’t go into the draft rating any defenders too highly, I think they’re all pretty dodgy this year. That being said I focused on MID’s when I probably should have focussed on FWD’s a bit more first. Was able to grab Lonergan, Libba and Wines who I think will all have great seasons this year. Hodgey is generally decent so pretty happy with that.
The rest is a bit of a mix bag who I’m hoping will over perform! I’ll definitely be scouring the waiver wire throughout the year! Also made sure to handcuff Nic Nat with Lycett hoping that if Nic Nat misses a game, Lycett should cover well.

… this is going to be a long season.

11. Dunny’s Destroyers – Coach: Dunny

I was surprised at the first decision I had to make at pick 11. Gary Ablett Jnr was still on the board! However, I decided against and took the best forward still on the board, Leigh Montagna. Part of my strategy is to get the best forward, mid and defender I can early. Whilst I knew that Ablett would be gone, there was no doubt Montagna would be gone too at my next pick. Second I grabbed Priddis then got a defender in Kolodashnij. This gave me a solid player at each position. From there I set about another round with each position. As rucks flew off the board early, I left them til late. I ended up with Nichols, not entirely happy with him, but he will do the job, when I decided to leave them til late, I was hoping that Tippett would be left alone, but he went earlier than I thought. I picked David Mundy as he is usually a solid scorer, I took Brodie Smith as he may play more midfield and is eligible as a defender. When it comes to my bench I like to pick dual position players so that I can get the maximum coverage, hence I took Kerridge, Mitch Brown and Conca.

12. The Running Man – Coach: Jimbob

Didn’t have an exact strategy going in to the draft, just knew that from pick 12, I would be getting the best available MID as none of the best rucks would be available. I started drafting on my phone which was smooth, but gave you limited info on one screen. If only I knew Ablett was available at pick 12! Probably went too late on rucks but did get Tippett and Sinclair which are both R/F and a nice handcuffing as if one doesn’t play then the other should boost their points. While everyone else was scrapping for rucks, I was pretty chuffed to get Heath Shaw with pick 21 and Zach Merrett with pick 44. Feel my best bargains of the draft were Jack Newnes (Pick 172) and Cam Guthrie (my last pick, 236). Overall pretty happy with my draft, but feel I’m a little thin in the forwards.

13. Dove Love – Coach: Crutt

With such a small squad size, yet large league, I wanted to get some safe points early – Fyfe at pick 13 offers that, and Titch at pick 20 offers a huge potential – love that it also upset my buddy Matt Craig! Rucks went hot early, so I needed to jump on. Happy with Grundy at 45, considering the ruck shortage. Next up was looking at some forwards. Wingard at 52 is solid, and I reckon Motlop at 77 is a steal! Deliberately avoiding defenders early, I think there are some great picks late in the draft that offer real value – but Matt Rosa stares at me long enough, and I take him at 84. Luke Shuey is a safe pick at 116, but it’s the pick before that concerns me – Missy Higgins. Hoping he can build on his first season at the roos. I DID NOT MEAN TO TAKE MATTHEW JAENSCH. I just couldn’t make up my mind. Aish or Pittard. So I autodrafted Jaensch. Yeah, I’ve got the shits at this stage.

14. Suts – Coach: Leighroy

I decided to focus on my midfield first and foremost. With the plethora of good cheap defenders I leaved that until last. I ended up losing wifi mid way through and consequently auto picked Roughhead! (Cheers Bali….) my mids are solid with Treloar, Danger, Shiels and Robbie Gray and my sole ruck man is Mumford! In the forward line I went for DPP in Hutchings, A Hall and Walters (Banking on him having an awesome year!). My Defence of Gilbert, Sheppard and R Henderson solidify my DPP capabilities and I think will consistently serve me well. I also made sure I have bench cover on every line! Awesome fun! Let the games begin.

15. Statismthgicians – Coach: Tristan

With my first picks being 15 and 18 I decided I needed a strategy where I could pair my picks, particularly as I would then have a big gap before my next pick at 47. When Blicavs was available at 15 that locked everything in place. I took premium mids in JPK and Ellis next, then some Fwds in Zorko and Lynch (Adel) and maybe paid slightly over for Kieran Jack at 82 when I panicked a little under the pressure. At this stage I still had no defenders but the best defenders remaining were now on par with the best Forwards remaining so I’d actually gained on balance. Eventually with my bench I wanted some flexibility to move Blicavs into the midfield if needed, so I took some Ruc/Fwd potentials in Stanley and Leuenberger.

16. Lampshade’s Lads – Coach: Lampe

After being drawn the last pick (of the first round) in such a competitive league, I came in with a simple strategy. Take the punt on high-risk high-reward players, who others may have passed on for a variety of reasons.

To my amazement I was able to land the GOAT, Gazza himself, at pick 16. I followed this up by implementing my pre-draft strategy and running the gauntlet with Matthew Boyd and Buddy Franklin with my second and third picks overall. However after taking Luke Parker, I ran into the misfortune of my Internet cutting out. As a result my 5th and 6th selections were auto-picked from a very poor pre-draft list (Gibbs & Yeo), paying the price for lazy planning and preparation.

After 15 picks in total, I am relatively happy with my draft and cautiously optimistic about the season ahead.